Infrastructure statistics hub
Stock

Definitions

Industry

An industry is a group of businesses that are engaged in similar production activities, such as the manufacturing industry or the transportation services industry. There are many businesses in Canada and they are classified into industry groups by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

Net stock

The value of capital stock is estimated using the perpetual inventory method (PIM) whereby investment flows are accumulated and depreciated over time, giving rise to a stock of assets. In particular, the PIM uses a time series of investment flows, asset lives and prices, and assumptions regarding methods of depreciation and discard patterns when developing estimates of the capital stock.

Average age

At the end of a given year the stock of infrastructure capital of a given type reflects investments made in different years in the past. Some of those investments may have been quite recent while others may have been further in the past. The average age of the stock is a weighted average of the ages of all past investments, after eliminating retirements from the stock. For example, if $100 million was invested in new highways two years ago and $200 million was invested in new highways four years ago the average age of the stock of highways would be (100*2+200*4)/(100+200) = 3.33 years.

Remaining useful life ratio

The remaining useful life, which is the difference between the average age of the investment spending and their expected service life, is then divided by the expected service life, creating a ratio that indicates the percentage of the asset class that remains. For example, if the average age of investment in highways is 6 years and the expected service life is 30 years, the ratio is (30 − 6) ÷ 30 = 80%. The higher the ratio, the more useful life remains. This ratio permits a comparison of one asset class to another and can enable analysis of where investment is most required.

Asset

An asset is durable property, such as a pipeline, a school or a sewer system, that can be used in current and future production activities. There are many kinds of assets and they are classified into asset groups by the North American Product Classification System (NAPCS) and Variant of NAPCS Canada 2012 Version 1.1 - Capital expenditures on non-residential construction.

Asset function

An asset function is a primary purpose for which an asset is used. For example, the asset function for hospitals is health and the asset function for sewage treatment plants is environmental protection. Asset functions are classified into function groups by the Classification of the Functions of Government (COFOG).